Representatives of Cambodia’s indigenous peoples met in the northeast Stung Treng province on October 20-21 for the Second National Indigenous Peoples Forum.
The forum continued discussions from the First National Indigenous Peoples Forum, which met for two days in September 2004, "To share our ideas and experiences about our culture and natural resource management," according to the first forum’s final statement.
Representatives identified characteristics that defined and unified indigenous peoples, and they discussed traditional land management and the future needs of their communities.
Discussion at the second forum centered on devising strategies to address the preservation of indigenous cultural identity in the face of political and economic pressures, in particular the continuing problem of land alienation.
"[The second Indigenous Peoples Forum] was organized and facilitated by indigenous peoples themselves," Katrin Seidel, of the NGO Forum in Cambodia, explained in an email. "[Indigenous peoples’] organizations in Cambodia are still in their infancy and limited indigenous self-representation is certainly one of the main issues," she said.
As expressed in the first national forum’s final statement, the loss of land and forest resources not only denies indigenous people a source of livelihood, but is disrupting traditional means of land management and is resulting in a loss of indigenous culture.
Dr. Mark Poffenberger, a member of the Community Forestry Alliance for Cambodia, reported in a phone interview that consensus of the second forum supported retaining communal control over land and forest resources in the face of strong pressures to privatize, consistent with traditional ways of land management. Representatives at the forum also pushed for management rights over forest and water resources.
A report from another meeting attended only by indigenous groups in the Ratanakiri province in early October provided evidence that indigenous communities there are encountering serious problems with illegal land transactions, such as land grabbing and illegal logging, and that local authorities were forcing or encouraging these illegal sales.
Graeme Brown, also from the Community Forestry Alliance for Cambodia, reported in an email correspondence that the indigenous community members in Ratanakiri are often too scared to address problems with local authorities because of the power and support that they hold.
Because of this government corruption in Cambodia, indigenous networks and counsels are necessary if people wish to mobilize and have their issues heard, Poffenberger said. He warned that, despite their advances, indigenous peoples in Cambodia remain disempowered, and it is questionable that they will be able to withstand the trend of land alienation and loss of resources without considerable political changes.
Poffenberger said that national forums have been significant events for indigenous peoples with regards to strengthening their own identities and their awareness of their shared experiences as a minority population. Indigenous communities are trying to create a network, from the villages up to the provincial level, through which they can address their concerns politically.
Poffenberger noted that indigenous peoples are now enlisting the involvement of intergovernmental groups such as the International Labor Organization and other UN agencies to put pressure on Cambodia to change their government policies and enact land and forest laws, as well as local governance laws that will protect their dwindling resources.
